Taking this trip without Mrs. Fields was a terrible idea. Daffodil had been unable to say that, however, in the doctor’s company. Rex was staying here. To cast aspersions that he was less than trustworthy…only she would end up hurt if she shared that piece of information. Her reputation could be ruined forever.

Why could she not stay out of trouble? Daffodil supposed that wasn’t entirely true. She’d managed to barely skirt disaster so far, but well and truly, she was attempting to be free of any scandal. She just couldn’t seem to manage it.

“Petal, are you paying attention?” Rex called from across the table. No…she hadn’t been. He had his sleeves rolled up, exposing his tanned and muscular forearms. Every time she looked at him, she forgot to use her head as her body began to pulse with…wanting.

Which brought her back to her original thought. This trip was a terrible idea.

“Yes, I’m paying attention. You’ve covered the meat in lard. In my experience that only makes it more likely to catch fire.”

He raised a brow. “Yes, well that brings us back to lesson one. Don’t let the fire get too hot. With nice coals, the lard will make the skin crispy and delicious. So good, you’ll want to lick your fingers.”

She squeezed her thighs together as an image of him licking her fingers made her insides pulse. Dear lord, save me from these thoughts. “A lady…” Her voice broke and she cleared her throat. “A lady does not lick her fingers at the table.”

Rex leaned those tanned forearms on the table bending toward her. His lips were full and curved seductively as his dark brown eyes stared at her with an intensity that left her breathless. “Perhaps you should eat your meat somewhere other than the table.”

She closed her eyelids for just a moment as she near swayed on her feet. Had he meant his suggestion to sound like a caress? Now her mind danced with an image of him in her bed, licking her fingers. Then she sucked in her breath. Oh my, she pictured him without his clothes. What was he doing to her? “I’m going to hell,” she muttered.

“Where else would you eat meat besides the table?” Jacob asked as he tossed another piece of wood on the stove.

Jacob. Had she actually forgotten her brother was present? Rex had stolen her mental faculties and replaced them with raw, pulsing nerves.

“At a picnic,” Rex answered winking at her for the second time that day.

A wave of heat spread across her cheeks and neck. The man was walking sin. There was no other explanation.

“What a good idea. Can we go on a picnic?” Jacob replied. Daffodil gave her head a tiny shake. Had she gone mad? Was she the derelict? Or was Rex playing a game of innuendo? She was always at a disadvantage with this man and she was tired of it.

“Perhaps when the weather’s better. Get some more wood for the stove, would you?” she asked.

“All right,” Jacob replied heading for the door.

There was only one thing to do. A bowl of date stuffing sat upon the table next to the hens. She reached over and pinched a morsel between her fingers and then popped it into her mouth. Letting the food dissolve on her tongue, she placed one of her fingers into her mouth, wrapping her lips about it. Rex had been following her actions with his gaze but as she began removing the now-wet finger, he stopped his mouth hanging open. “Petal,” he whispered in a low, hissing breath.

Allowing the finger to pop from her lips, she raised a brow, imitating one of his rakish looks. “You’re right, there is something very satisfying about lick—”

His lips pulled across his teeth, barring them to her view. “Stop.”

She leaned over the table until they were mere inches apart. “You started it.”

His grimace disappeared in a second, replaced with a devilish grin. “You little minx.”

He was right. It was the least ladylike action of which she’d ever partaken. Worse than when she’d allowed Rathemore to kiss her. Hadn’t she just been going on about how she needed to stay out of trouble? Her face heated as the reality of what she had just done set in. “I’m terribly sorry.” Turning from his knowing gaze, she headed for the door.

Her eyes welled with tears that she dashed away. What was wrong with her? Why would she bait him like that? She’d accused him of being a rake but one look at the skin of his arms and she’d near lost her senses.

If she hadn’t been certain before, she was now. She could not travel with Rex. Violette would have to marry and then come fetch her.

The thought of missing her sister’s wedding made her pulse thrum and more tears well in her eyes. Could she have made this day any worse?

“Petal,” Rex called behind her.

He didn’t stop, and she sped up. “Please leave me be.”

“I shan’t.” He wrapped his hand about her waist, spun her around and then crushed her up against his chest. “Tell me why you’re so upset.”

His body was achingly hard and warm and her pulse beat even more wildly. “I…” She swallowed a lump that had risen in her throat. No words but the truth came to mind and so, in a complete act of weakness, she allowed them to tumble out. “I can’t help myself. I am drawn to rakes.”

He dropped his head and for a wild moment she thought he would kiss her. As if to confirm her worst fears, she realized that she desperately, breathlessly, wanted him to. But instead, he dropped his head into the crook between her neck and her shoulder. “Most ladies are, Petal. And most are far less virtuous then they allow society to see. It’s nothing to be upset about.”

“Yes, but I was nearly ruined and now I am careening toward disaster and I—” Her throat clogged once more so that no more words could come out.

“I told you. Your virtue is safe with me. Though, if you lick your finger like that again, I may have to pluck out my own eyes.” He’d wrapped his other arm about her so that she was cradled against him. It was the most delicious place she’d ever rested. “Tonight, after Jacob goes to bed, you will tell me what happened with your other rake.”

“Other rake?” she asked, a wave of shock traveling down her body as her voice squeaked out. “How did you know?”

“You said rakes. I made the assumption there was more than just me,” he whispered.

But another voice called from down the hall. As she blinked away tears she saw Jacob moving toward her. He must have finished filling the wood box. “I told him about Rathemore. I’m sorry.”

“You told him about Rathemore?” she repeated dumbly, pulling away to look into his face.

“Tonight,” he mouthed before he stepped back and turned toward Jacob. “Let’s finish dinner, shall we?”

Jacob looked at her. “Why did you run out of the kitchen?”

“I…” Nothing, absolutely nothing, came to mind.

“She caught her fingernail with the knife and was worried she’d cut herself but she’s fine.” Rex gave an easy smile.

She looked at him, her breath catching. Not only was he handsome as sin but the man was a complete liar.

Rex followed her back to the kitchen. His body a riot of pulsing need and watching the sway of her hips as she walked was not helping. Holding her hadn’t been wise either nor had it been very smart to watch her lick her finger. Though he’d go to his grave remembering what that luscious mouth looked like as she’d cleaned the digit.

I should just marry her. He gave his head a shake. He couldn’t marry her, it wouldn’t be fair. He had proven himself the worst kind of husband and Petal…she deserved the best.

But he could protect her from the rakes of the world. Who knew them best but a man who had been one? Been one? He was one currently. And protection would require him to stay in England. Would he have someone manage his Barbados holding the way his English ones had been run? Bloody hell, what was happening in his head? He blamed those hips. Those luscious, curvy, tempting-beyond-sanity hips. Or perhaps it was her mouth, whether licking things or throwing bards, it was a cacophony of delights.

He wasn’t marrying, and he wasn’t staying in England. He was returning to Barbados after his friend’s wedding to let the sun burn away his past regrets.

Returning to the kitchen, Jacob looked in the stove. “Looks ready,” he called.

“Time to stuff the bird?” Petal looked over at him, her luminous brown eyes so innocent. “We’ve rubbed the skin down already.”

He held back a growl of frustration. She’d licked her finger to torture him, was she doing it again? He pictured himself rubbing her skin down and then filling…

Her expectant look was completely innocent as she turned to him.

“Yes,” he gritted out between clenched teeth.

With a nod, she reached into the stuffing and then began to fill the duck. “Cooking is more fun when you’re not worried you’ll burn down the entire street.”

Jacob laughed. “All of Mayfair thanks you for the lesson, Rex.”

“No need for that,” Petal returned but rather than looking angry, she gave her brother a delightfully affectionate smile.

“Happy to help,” Rex answered, watching her finish. Then tying up the bird, he placed the entire pan in the oven.

“What should we make next?” Jacob asked. “How about cranberries? Or mayhap some pudding? It’s been ages since we had anything like that, hasn’t it?”

Petal gave a little clap. “Could we? Is that something you could teach us?”

He paused. No one cooked cranberries on a ship but how could he tell them no? Their matching looks of enthusiasm squeezed his heart and made him want to do more for them. “We could try.”

They both cheered and Jacob danced over, hooking his arm in Petal’s to give her a spin about. Rex tried to remember a more lighthearted moment in his past but nothing came to mind.

“Rex is the best. Rex is the best,” Jacob chanted.

Rex shook his head. He wasn’t the best but the words made him lighter. He tried to remember when he’d made a connection with other people the way he had with both Petal and Jacob. Not since Theo. And before that? Certainly not his parents and definitely not his wife. What would life be like if it were filled with this sort of affection?

Those thoughts were silly. He was returning to Barbados, the only place he’d ever been even close to happy.

But Theo would be staying in England. He was marrying. And Petal and Jacob? They had never been anywhere else.

Why did he have the feeling that all the warmth was in cold, rainy England?